Awhile ago I read an article from a woman saying that when she was a little girl she remembered that her mother used to put soap suds on her rose bushes to make them grow abundantly. Has anyone ever heard of this technique for roses, or for flowers in general? Also, I bought some Folgers instant coffee recently, and it tastes terrible to me (sorry to those of you who like Folgers coffee). I don't know if they have a new recipe or what, because years ago I remember drinking and liking Folgers coffee, but these days, not at all. I figure since I have it, I can use it on my plants, maybe? I've heard of putting coffee grounds (from used brewed coffee) on plants to make them grow, but what about just using instant coffee straight out of a jar? I'm trying to get some succulents to grow faster than they currently are. Any suggestions, other than watering them a lot?
I am not pretending to be an expert gardener but I guess that soapy water was intended to drive away pests particularly aphids. I used to see the old folks here doing that when I was young, that soapy water is a good substitute for pesticide. With the coffee grounds, we sometimes get from Starbucks here to be used as enhancement of potting material. I don’t really think coffee grounds has fertilizer properties. But you can use the water that you rinsed the meat and fish in the kitchen to serve as fertilizer. I guarantee that.
I have been teaching elementary agriculture to my grade 5 and grade 6 pupils. I have taught them that one of the cheapest pest or insect control for plants is the soap suds. Once the leaves of the plants are treated with bubbles coming from the liquefied soap ants, aphids are prevented from attacking the plants' leaves. And when regards to ground coffee for the plants, I haven't any idea. By practice, an ash from a burnt fuel or woods could do something beneficial to the plants.
I love gardening but don't have any professional knowledge though. I think soap water is used as a solution to drive away pests from plants and in no way it is being used by plants a growth stimulater. As you know when a plant is pest free it can grow more rapidly than before. May be because of that OP experienced a sudden surge in plant growth. Coffee grounds are good for rose bushes but not for all the plants. Coffee grounds make the land more acidic which is ideal for plants like roses and blueberries. So I think it varies from plant to plant.
